Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Queen's Lover: A Novel

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 493 ratings · 94 reviews

Catherine de Valois, daughter of the French king Charles VI, is born into troubled times. Though she is brought up in a royal court, it is a stormy and unstable environment. Before she is out of her teens, Catherine is married off to England's Henry V as part of a treaty honoring his victory over France. She is terrified at the idea of being married to a man who is a forei...more

Paperback, 624 pages

Published March 8th 2011 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published January 1st 2009)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,293)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 28, 2010 Misfit added it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, get-it-from-the-library, wall-banger

Once upon a time there was a beautiful young princess of France named Catherine who had a mad-as-a-hatter father and a scheming evil mother. The poor princess and her younger brother Charles were all but forgotten by their awful parents and wore rags for clothing and had to forage for food. One day members of the English King's court came to propose marriage to Catherine and in this company's service was a young Welshman named Owain Tudor. Owain and young Catherine became friends of a great scho...more Once upon a time there was a beautiful young princess of France named Catherine who had a mad-as-a-hatter father and a scheming evil mother. The poor princess and her younger brother Charles were all but forgotten by their awful parents and wore rags for clothing and had to forage for food. One day members of the English King's court came to propose marriage to Catherine and in this company's service was a young Welshman named Owain Tudor. Owain and young Catherine became friends of a great scholar named Christine de Pizan (not quite sure how that came about but this is a fairy tale after all), and they were soon BFF - until they got older and then well........true love, of course.

Eventually the beautiful princess marries the English king to escape her awful parents and has a baby boy, but you know that fairytales don't last forever. The King dies (no spoilers, this is known history) and leaves Catherine and her young child at the mercy of the those awful English barons and men of the Church battling for ultimate power over the child king. Will Catherine have to marry some loathsome Earl or Baron or will she and Owain be able to find true love and happiness in the end? Will the English King's onion-breathed brother find a way to stop the path to true love?

Ahhhh, romance and fairy tales, wonderful aren't they? The Queen's Lover is a somewhat imaginative take on the life of Catherine de Valois, daughter of the oftentimes insane King Charles VI of France. Eventually married off for the sake of peace to Henry V of England and mother to Henry VI, the widowed Catherine eventually married Owain Tudor and thus are the beginnings of the Tudor Dynasty.

Sounds like a lot of good juicy history to make for a fascinating, page turning novel, but can Bennett make it interesting? Noooooo, she does not. Perhaps it was just me but I always felt like a ghostly presence whilst reading the book - kind of like an out of body experience. Worse yet, too much time is spent on Catherine's childhood - I swear the first 200 or so pages could have been cut back to 50 and not lost any of her story. Then I got to page 300 and felt it still all could have been cut down to 50 pages. By page 400....... still the same problem. Honestly I was more interested in her brief time as queen, let alone the circumstances that led up to her marriage to Owain and the consequences of said action, but nooooooo we didn't even get to that until the last 100 or so pages - and what an interesting twist to the fairytale that was. Not.

Add to that the most bizarre misuse of colons, semi-colons and commas that I have ever come across, stir in a very imaginative version of known history and top it all off some sleep-inducing prose (I am not kidding I kept this one on the nightstand for when I was too tired to care what my mind absorbed) and serve up cold at The Shelf of Shame. Thumbs down too on the author's notes at the end. I prefer an author not to be footloose with history (egad that scene with Henry in the tent - WTF was the author thinking?), but if you're going to make it up at the very least 'fess up in your notes at the end. Even Carolly Erickson admitted to writing "whimsey". I am so done with this author, but don't let me stop you, it seems everyone else seems to love her. (less)

8 likes · like · see review

Jan 21, 2013 Louise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, british-history-fiction, biographical-fiction

I've wondered how it was that an English Queen/Queen Mother was allowed to live with a non-royal lover and their children in an age obsessed with rank and birth. Author Venora Bennett presents a scenario of how it began. The book covers most of their possible life together. At its end Catherine will only have 6 more years to live.

Could they have met in France during Catherine's late childhood? Bennett poses that due to the mental illness of their father and their mother's various preoccupations,...more

like · see review

Jan 12, 2012 Tamora Pierce rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, historical

A back-and-forthian novel of the romance between the Catherine of France (sister of Charles VI) who married Henry V of England and Owen Tudor, ancestors of Henry Tudor, Henry VII, of England, from Owen's arrival in France in the train of the Duke of Clarence with the Lancastrian offer for Catherine's hand before Henry's campaign that led to Agincourt. The book covers the long negotiations for the marriage, the French battles between the Duke of Burgundy and the ruling house of France that would...more

like · see review

Mar 25, 2011 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

During the 100 year war, little Catherine de Valois had much to worry about. Her father, the King of France was mad; her mother an adulterer; her brothers, uncles, and cousins were destroying France with their infighting; England had invaded and won; and she and her brother Charlie were all but completely neglected by their parents and the palace staff. But, to make things worse, Catherine had fallen in love with a landless, title less Welshman. Promised in marriage to the conquering King Henry...more During the 100 year war, little Catherine de Valois had much to worry about. Her father, the King of France was mad; her mother an adulterer; her brothers, uncles, and cousins were destroying France with their infighting; England had invaded and won; and she and her brother Charlie were all but completely neglected by their parents and the palace staff. But, to make things worse, Catherine had fallen in love with a landless, title less Welshman. Promised in marriage to the conquering King Henry V of England, Catherine begins to understand her royal blood cannot save her from her fate or from a broken heart.

Owen Tudor, son of a Welsh insurgent, was sent to King Henry IV as a ward after his father fled the British Isles and his family captured. Growing up in the royal household, he overlooked the lack of civil rights he and his fellow Welshmen suffered during the reigns of Henry IV and V (the Lancastrian kings). His loyalty to the English crown was so complete that he willingly accompanied Duke Thomas of Clarence to France on the mission to offer a marriage proposal to the youngest daughter of King Charles VI, the mentally disturbed and vanquished Lord in Paris. Little did Owen realize that this trip would inspire a love of the written word, the love of a beautiful princess, and lifetime where his devotion to his king is tested.

Christine de Pizan, known as Europe’s First Feminist, grew up as a friend and companion to the Royal de Valois children in France. Her life-long companionship with Charles VI and her fame brought about by her published works of poetry won her the position of tutor to Catherine and Charles, the youngest (and most neglected) children of Charles VI and Isabeau. Christine loved France deeply and she truly believed in the sanctity of royal blood. When she heard that her student, Catherine, had been promised in marriage to the usurper Henry V of England, she turned her back on the would-be daughter and supported young Charles in his endless fight to wrest France from English rule.

Jehanne of Arc was a teenage girl who followed the voices she thought to be that of God. These voices told her that Charles de Valois was the true heir to the French thrown, not the son of English Henry V and Catherine de Valois. God told her to wear men’s clothing and to join Charles’ efforts. So deep was her belief that she successfully led Charles to many victories and even successfully had Charles coroneted in Reims. Despite her efforts, she was abandoned to the English, who promptly put her to death for heresy. Her efforts also won her the admiration of Christine de Pizan, whose last published works was an epic poem in Jehanne’s honor and support from a heart sick French Princess living as an English Queen Mother.

Vanora Bennett brings to life France and England at the end of the Hundred Year War and demonstrates how a couple of young impetuous lovers can found one of the most famous English Dynasties that history has ever seen. The Queen’s Lover is a captivating story taking place in the landscape of a Europe in chaos as the ancient aristocracies crumbled and a new world order emerged.
(less)

like · see review

Mar 12, 2011 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, historic-fiction, fiction

Over the last few years I've read a large number of historical fiction books about some of the most strong women in history. Queen Catherine can proudly take her place among them.

Although I knew some of the other names in this story (Joan of Arc) this story was one I was unfamiliar with. Catherine, the grandmother to King Henry VII, led a life that was - quite expectedly - filled with its fair share of misery. But she was blessed with one bit of goodness, the friendship of Owain Tudor.

Owain, as...more

like · see review

Sep 02, 2010 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I find myself in at least two minds about this book. I have a great regard and respect for Vanora Bennett as a writer, in fact I think 'Portrait of an Unknown Woman' is a truly exceptional book. Blood Royal is not badly written by any means, there are no massive historical errors that I could find - just the odd strange cadence perhaps - and it was very clever to write Owain Tudor into the story at so early a stage, before Catherine even meets Henry V. There's an interesting depiction of Christi...more

like · see review

Oct 12, 2010 Jodi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 Jaime rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, romance

I love historical fiction, and I chose this book because I know almost nothing about the Tudors before Henry VIII. Unfortunately, as other reviewers have noted, there are too many outlandish ideas presented to make the story credible. I don’t expect absolute historical accuracy – this is fictionalized – but I do expect believable descriptions. As a Princess, Catherine had far too much freedom (even within such a dysfunctional family) and I found it farfetched that she would have any opportunity...more

like · see review

Nov 07, 2012 Sx rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

A frustrating, long-winded read but the ending redeemed itself somewhat. Historical details were presented well but in the most boring way imaginable. Catherine was a cipher most of the time, until the very end when she stood up for the last thing she could have some control over- her marriage and love. She was so frustratingly naive, clueless and trusting, I wasn't sure whether it was because Vanora Bennett made her that way to hint at the future Henry VI's traits or whether she had shut hersel...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 21, 2009 Andrea Zsigmond rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

I found this an interesting story. I had wanted to read something about the start of the Tudor family line and understand how Owain came to marry a former queen and a princess of the French royalty.

The overall read was good, however, I did find the use of "Your Majesty" unusual as from other discussions with other HF readers, that term came about in the Tudor era (meaning Henry VIII) if I am not mistaken.

It did give some ideas as to the kinds of behaviour exhibited by both Charles VI of France a...more

like · see review

Jul 25, 2012 Ginger Myrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: rated-and-reviewed

As soon as I sat down and cracked this book open, I was whisked away into the world of 15th century France as effectively as if I had experienced it firsthand. The love story at the core between Owain Tudor and Catherine de Valois is charming and well done, and although I knew the history behind it and the eventual outcome, Bennett does a terrific job of immersing her readers enough to forget the history and bite their nails, wondering how the characters will ever find a way to wind up together....more As soon as I sat down and cracked this book open, I was whisked away into the world of 15th century France as effectively as if I had experienced it firsthand. The love story at the core between Owain Tudor and Catherine de Valois is charming and well done, and although I knew the history behind it and the eventual outcome, Bennett does a terrific job of immersing her readers enough to forget the history and bite their nails, wondering how the characters will ever find a way to wind up together. Bennett also does a fantastic job of portraying the subtleties of the madness that ran through the veins of the Royal French family. There are hints here and there that remind the reader of the insidious specter that would eventually tell in Catherine and Henry VI. The characters are well-developed and real, embodying admirable human qualities as well as human failings.

The writing style is clean with an organic cadence and natural dialogue with an occasional lovely and strategically placed turn of phrase that makes the reader stop and reread it simply for its lyrical continuity. The history included in this sweeping work ranges from Paris at its height of glory and erudition to the crumbling ruins it would become after its downfall following the English victory at Azincourt. It tells of the subsequent internecine strife even touching on Jehanne of Arc whose visions led to the crowning of Charles VII in Reims and eventual victory over the English to end the Hundred Years’ War.

I do feel I need to qualify this review by saying that I am an avid reader of heavily historical tomes that present a more leisurely-paced story with lots of details and a comprehensive look at precipitating factors. When I choose reading material, I want to, above all, be entertained but also to learn something new and to be inspired to seek out more. I don’t mind a bit of conjecture (read ‘artistic license’) on the part of the author if it is creative, fits in with the whole of the story, and is a somewhat logical premise supported by historical fact. After all, it is historical fiction, is it not? This book succeeded on all points. This is everything I look for in a book and part of what I aspired to do with my own novel, El Rey. This is the first work I have read by Vanora Bennet, but it will not be the last. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Lancasters, Tudors, or Wars of the Roses, Welsh, English, or French history of the era.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 16, 2010 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though sure to please those who love to curl up with a big thick historical romance, The Queen’s Lover may frustrate some with its meandering plot lines and shifting points of view. Too long, too detailed and yet somehow never managing to clarify the political contexts the characters find themselves in to a reader unfamiliar with the early to mid fifteenth century. Vanora Bennett describes much of the life of Catherine de Valois a young princess struggling to survive the neglect of her father’s...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 27, 2010 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-reads

I think I was pretending that, in reading this book, I was taking a class in pre-Tudor English-French relations. I had to really goad myself to pick it back up, since the characters were neither interesting nor well-drawn -- even the heroine remained kind of an oddball cipher the whole time. I learned a lot, including some about the level of my own ignorance (I really didn't have any historical context for Joan of Arc; I didn't know what made Tudors Tudors) although I'm not totally positive that...more

like · see review

Mar 02, 2010 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Queen's Lover is a historical fiction novel set in France and England, centering on Catherine de Valois, the fifteenth century French Princess and great grandmother of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. The novel begins with Katherine's tumultuous childhood as a "poor little rich girl," living unloved and neglected in the shadows of her shrewish, promiscuous mother, Queen Isabeau of Bavaria and her mad father King Charles VI of France. As a royal princess, Catherine is a valuable commo...more The Queen's Lover is a historical fiction novel set in France and England, centering on Catherine de Valois, the fifteenth century French Princess and great grandmother of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. The novel begins with Katherine's tumultuous childhood as a "poor little rich girl," living unloved and neglected in the shadows of her shrewish, promiscuous mother, Queen Isabeau of Bavaria and her mad father King Charles VI of France. As a royal princess, Catherine is a valuable commodity and she views a possible marriage to English King Henry V as a means of escape from the political chaos plaguing France as well as the lack of family harmony due to her father's mental illness and her mother's inability to get along with her siblings.

Nearly half the novel details the degeneration of France as a consequence of King Charles' madness and Queen Isabeau's unpleasant temperament. I think this section should have been cut down a bit, as I found it to be somewhat dull at times. (However, it does form an interesting foreshadowing of the instability that England would experience during the reign of Catherine and Henry V's son, King Henry VI, due to his own battles with mental illness.) The novel initially appeared well researched to me (although I am not sure whether there was any historical foundation for the portrayal of Katherine and her brother Charles as neglected and half starved children). Unfortunately, Bennett is unable to sustain a believable portrayal of Catherine de Valois.

In the novel, there are four scenes/events in particular that were not believable and seriously damaged the credibility of the novel. I will detail them below but in this paragraph, I would like to say that the scenes/events are incongruous with medieval behavior and almost made me stop reading the novel, as I am a reader who prefers factually based historical fiction. Unfortunately, Vanora Bennett author's note is inadequate, briefly summarizing the remainder of Owain Tudor's and Catherine's lives without clarifying which sections of the novel were left to her imagination or pointing out which sections of the novel were controversial and laying out the supporting evidence for her story. She also does not include a bibliography.

The four scenes that struck me as particularly outrageous are enumerated as follows:

[CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!!]

First, the novel presents Katherine and Owain Tudor as knowing each other as teenagers (possible but unlikely) and having a sexual relationship (highly improbable).

Second, the novel presents Catherine and Henry V as consummating their relationship prior to the finalization of marriage negotiations with Queen Isabeau's encouragemeent. This would never ever happen, particularly given Katherine's value on the marriage market.

Third, the novel portrays Catherine as supporting Joan of Arc (unlikely, as supporting Joan of Arc runs counter to Katherine's son's interests) and visiting Joan in the tower in Rouen to bring her clothing in order to avoid her execution for heresy (highly unlikely).

Fourth, the novel portrays Catherine and Owain Tudor as having a clandestine sexual relationship outside of marriage (possible but unlikely) and as marrying after Isabeau lies to the the English court and states that Owain and Catherine had secretly married (highly unlikely).

[END OF SPOILERS:]

Overall this is a three star novel. Some points were better than three stars, others were one star. It is unfortunate that the novel was not better, as Catherine and Owain's relationship was both interesting and important to the course of English history. Bennett clearly did a lot of research but she seems to have forgotten her bearings in the middle ages and created anachronistic plot twists.

** Reviewed an ARC from Amazon Vine ** (less)

like · see review

Mar 28, 2010 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Here's my review of the hardcover version for AP:
¶ "The Queen's Lover" (William Morrow, 592 pages, $25.99), by Vanora Bennett: If ever there was a poor little princess, it was Catherine de Valois. Born to the mad King Charles VI of France and the unfaithful _ some would say depraved _ Queen Isabeau, Catherine grows up neglected, often lacking food, clean clothing and supervision.
¶ She seeks escape in marriage with King Henry V, who is in the midst of overrunning France after winning a decisive v...more Here's my review of the hardcover version for AP:
¶ "The Queen's Lover" (William Morrow, 592 pages, $25.99), by Vanora Bennett: If ever there was a poor little princess, it was Catherine de Valois. Born to the mad King Charles VI of France and the unfaithful _ some would say depraved _ Queen Isabeau, Catherine grows up neglected, often lacking food, clean clothing and supervision.
¶ She seeks escape in marriage with King Henry V, who is in the midst of overrunning France after winning a decisive victory at Agincourt in 1415. But Henry dies shortly after the birth of their only child, leaving Catherine struggling to raise their son among unfriendly English and in-laws eager to use the young King Henry VI to their advantage.
¶ "The Queen's Lover," Vanora Bennett's fictional look at the real princess, focuses on Catherine's relationship with Owain Tudor, a courtier to King Henry V who eventually becomes the princess' second husband. Their grandson ended the War of the Roses with a politically savvy marriage to another potential heir to the throne and founded the Tudor dynasty as King Henry VII.
¶ Catherine is born in the midst of the Hundred Years War in which the kings of France and England battled for control of France. Joan of Arc helped put her brother back on the throne of France after her mad father and ambitious husband agreed to remove him in favor of Catherine's son. But Catherine herself was relatively sheltered, first controlled by her mother and then by her son's regents.
¶ This lack of public life _ common among medieval women _ is the main weakness in Bennett's tale: Catherine observes great events but largely does not participate in or influence them. Bennett works with what she has, making Catherine the instigator in the royal marriage with Henry V and creating a scene between Catherine and Joan of Arc. But mostly, her Catherine is passive and powerless, waiting for others to decide her fate. While the portrayal may accurately reflect the role of women in that time, it doesn't make for a driving plot.
¶ Bennett also devotes much space to Catherine and Owain's supposed relationship with Christine de Pizan, the greatest French writer of their time and a member of Isabeau's court. She uses de Pizan as a plot device, having the writer befriend Owain and introduce him to Catherine. This allows the two to meet as teens instead of, as is historically more likely, adults when Owain is part of Henry V's forces in France.
¶ But Bennett continues to involve de Pizan in the plot long after it's needed, making her the third wheel in a romance built for two.
¶ Catherine's story is interesting and her romance with Owain changed the course of English history. But Bennett's telling is long-winded at nearly 600 pages. A tightly edited version that moved more quickly through the highlights of the couple's secret romance might have been more compelling.(less)

like · see review

Mar 21, 2011 Molly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Molly by: TLC

Shelves: book-review

I am truly sad with this book. Having recently become hooked on Tudor era novels and loving them, I was excited about this novel. But, it just didn't hold up to my expectations of this style of book. Please don't get me wrong when I say that. I did stay up reading this novel late into the night. I was very interested in seeing how Catherine and Owain's story played out. And, well, frankly, it just wasn't full of the historical, rich details that I was hoping for.

While I thought this book to be...more

like · see review

Nov 29, 2009 Tara Chevrestt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: france, historical-fiction, women-that-really-existed-fiction, england, arc, 2010-release

The first half of this book was pretty exciting. Taking place in France and following the teenage life of Catherine de Valois, the story is about the princess, her grotesque and selfish mother, her father (the king) suffering bouts of madness, and of course, miscellaneous dukes fighting constantly for control of the kingdom. Catherine is much like many a modern day teenager. She wishes to marry in order to escape her dysfunctional family. However, the man she has fallen in love with, is not of r...more

like · see review

Apr 24, 2010 Marti rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zzz-books-2010, fiction-historical, history-english-scottish

What an interesting book about a treacherous time in history. I enjoyed reading about Catherine of Valois. Finding out about a new time period in English history was very interesting. I knew something about the King of France who was mentally ill. I had not heard of Catherine of Valois and did not realize that there were so many intermarriages between France and England even during the wars. The book - while looking quite thick - was a fast read that dragged you back into all deceit and treacher...more

like · see review

Jul 03, 2010 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

I thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction about Catherine de Valois and Owain Tudor, both of whom are people I knew of, but not a lot about.

Ms. Bennett does a superb job of bringing the time period to life. Her characterizations are deft and sure. She has the courage to allow even a French princess and her Welsh commoner lover to be ordinary and that speaks volumes about her as a writer because sometimes people are just that - ordinary - and that's the extraordinary thing about them, eh?

I was...more

like · see review

May 21, 2012 Bea rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On the longish side, this historical novel is pretty good as far as relating historical facts, but it lacks the excitement and intensity of even your average Phillipa Gregory book. Parts of it were actually boring and I found myself skimming through it to find something that would get my attention. I finished it because I wanted to see if the lovers ever got together for good, and even when they met throughout the book, it wasn't exactly magical or anything. Much of this Queen's life was boring...more

like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Nattie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tried-but-could-not-read-it

How I hated to put this book down, but I simply had to. It was so friggin' boring. I could hardly even focus on the words after a while. I kept hoping it would get better, but it did not. I really have no idea how I could have enjoyed this book personally. It seemed to just go on and on without being able to even mildly hold my interest. At one point my eyes started to cross. I am sure I will come across more unreadable historical fiction as I plan to spend the next year reading mainly royal fic...more

like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Bonnie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked a previous book by Ms. Bennett ("Portrait of an Unknown Woman"). This one I didn't like quite as well. I'm not crazy about the title. It gives the impression of an adulterous affair, which is not what's going on here.

The story is interesting and not one that is well-known. It's main interest for me is historical since it concerns two English kings (Henry V and his son Henry VI) that I didn't know much about as well as Henry V's queen Catherine and her 2nd husband Owain Tudor. I a...more

like · see review

Apr 27, 2010 Darla rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Unfortunately, this book arrived just as I was supposed to be finishing the non-fiction Bookclub book. How can I possibly read Eric Weiner when I have this book sitting so patiently on my desk?

I have enjoyed all of the books by Vanora Bennett. This is a fictional telling of the life of Catherine de Valois, the French Queen of Henry V, (Henry VIII's great grandmother). Ms. Bennett did an excellent job portraying the period, I really liked how she paints the mother as a villain and, in the end, t...more

like · see review

Jan 16, 2011 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked that this novel echoed the conventions found in a courtly romance and was a clever motif for the largely unrequited passion of Catherine of Valois, a princess of France and later Queen of England after her marriage to Henry V, and Owain Tudor, a Welshman. I was motivated a read more of their history in http://www.britannia.com/history/biog.... And now I want to read more about the War of the Roses and how the offspring of Catherine and Owain rose to even greater power than that of their...more

like · see review

Jul 04, 2012 Jo Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I wiffle-waffled between a 3 and a 4 on this book, and would prefer a 3 1/2...I love historical fiction, and this is an era I knew little about, other than Joan of Ark...I had little knowledge of the Tudors before Henry VIII, so this book certainly upped my knowledge of this time period. I really liked some of the characters, and rooted for Catherine and Owain and that baby/child king, Henry VI. I really loved the story, yet somewhere in the second half, it lost a bit of its fervor somehow. Real...more

like · see review

May 17, 2012 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really enjoyed this book. It is set in the 15th century and is a historical fiction following Catherine Vaslois who is King Charles VI of France's daughter and Henry V of England. I don't know much about this period of time and found it really interesting. Being only set around historical events I guess you can't believe everything but it does give you a good background - similiar I guess to Phillippa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl".

Definitely a read if you enjoy historical fiction and enjoyed...more

like · see review

Jun 18, 2013 Isis rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: medieval-age-1000-to-1400ce-fiction

I had to bail on this one just under the 100 pages mark. Simply put, it was too syrupy, too saccharine, too cliché.

Owen Tudor being included in the delegation to the French court to arrange Henry V's match to Katherine of Valois? Just about theoretically possible, but then Owen and Katherine actually meeting one-on-one and immediately becoming BFFs and insta-love blossoming? This just stretches my suspension of disbelief too far. More than that, it's too contrived, too artificial; as a reader I'...more

like · see review

Mar 10, 2012 Sorcha rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Read under the title "Blood Royal", rather than the alternative title of "The Queen's lover" this is the fictionalised story of French Catherine, her marriage to English King Henry V and her long term friendship with Owain Tudor. It's is the offspring of the latter marriage that ultimately become the Tudor family, producing Henry VIII.

Other reviewers complain about the apparent falsehoods in this story - I have no idea whether the plot lines are true or not. But it can be certain that in a male...more

like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Cynthia Mcarthur rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The characters were beautifully drawn; Owen Tudor, the young Welshman whose family lost everything in rebellion against England; Princess Catherine, the beautiful, neglected daughter of a meddlesome mother and a mad father. The two meet in France when Owen meets Catherine de Pizan, the poet, and she introduces him to Catherine and her younger brother Charles. Christine anticipates that Owen can help Catherine and Charles to overcome their traumatic memories of the on-going French (and inter-fam...more

like · see review

Sep 14, 2011 Rio (Lynne) added it · review of another edition

Shelves: couldn-t-bring-myself-to-finish, historical-fiction

I really wanted to like this book about Catherine de Valois. After 108 pages I decided to end the suffering. This story felt contrived to me. It started with Owen Tudor being in France as part of the English entourage who were in town for the betrothal of Catherine and Henry. After this, Owen somehow was left outside in Paris after dark and guards made Christine de Pizan take him in. Here the story seemed to go in a weird direction. Not sure why Pizan played such a big part? 108 pages later, I w...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 43 44 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (12)

More editions...

Genres

Historical Fiction

97 users

European Literature > British Literature

8 users

Historical Fiction > Medieval

7 users

Cultural > France

7 users

Literature > 15th Century

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Vanora Bennett

I became a journalist almost by accident. Having learned Russian and been hired after university by Reuters (to my own surprise and the slight dismay of traditionally-minded editors who weren’t sure a Guardian-reading blonde female would be tough enough for the job), I was then catapulted into the adrenaline-charged realm of conflict reporting. While on a trainee assignment in Paris, I fell in wit...more I became a journalist almost by accident. Having learned Russian and been hired after university by Reuters (to my own surprise and the slight dismay of traditionally-minded editors who weren’t sure a Guardian-reading blonde female would be tough enough for the job), I was then catapulted into the adrenaline-charged realm of conflict reporting. While on a trainee assignment in Paris, I fell in with the Cambodian émigré community and ended up reporting in Cambodia myself, a decade after the Khmer Rouge regime ended, as well as covering Cambodian peace talks in places as far apart as Indonesia and Paris. That led to a conflict reporting job in Africa, commuting between Angola and Mozambique and writing about death, destruction, diamonds and disease, and later to a posting in a country that stopped being the Soviet Union three months after I arrived. I spent much of the early 1990s in smoky taxis in the Caucasus mountains, covering a series of small post-Soviet conflicts that built up to the war in Chechnya.

My fascination with the cultural and religious differences between Russians and the many peoples once ruled by Moscow grew into a book on the Chechen war (Crying Wolf: The Return of War to Chechnya). A second, more light-hearted book followed, about post-Soviet Russia’s illegal caviar trade, once I’d got homesick for London and moved back to writer leaders on foreign affairs for The Times. This book was The Taste of Dreams: An Obsession with Russia and Caviar.

I now lead a more sedate life in North London with my husband and two small sons, enjoying the reading, research, writing and metropolitan leisure activities that I grew up expecting adult life to involve. I’ve found that writing books is much of a surprise, a pleasure and an adventure of the mind as it was to become a foreign correspondent.

As a journalist I’ve written for, among others, The Times and its website, TimesOnline, the Los Angeles Times, Prospect, The Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian Saturday magazine, the Daily Mail, the Evening Standard, Eve magazine, The Observer Food Monthlyand The Erotic Review.(less)

More about Vanora Bennett...

Books by Vanora Bennett

The Taste of Dreams: An Obsession with Russia and Caviar

Crying Wolf: The Return of War to Chechnya

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Blood Royal

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Queen's Lover: A Novel
avg rating	preview: The Queen's Lover: A Novel Goodreads rating: 3.45 (493 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9774201-the-queen-s-lover?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1295285610l/9774201.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9774201-the-queen-s-lover?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Queen's Lover: A Novel by Vanora Bennett[/url]

The Queen's Lover: A Novel

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website